Method and apparatus to perform quick vacuum evacuation from universal sealable vacuum containers or wine bottles

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus to perform effortless vacuum evacuation for food and wine preserving and meat marinating purpose. The vacuum method allows the apparatus to work with any food sealable vacuum container and wine bottle found on the market. The method also conveniently allows vacuum operation without using tubing to connect between sealable vacuum container and vacuum source. The food and wine vacuuming apparatus are of circular shape, which include vacuum chamber, vacuum source, control circuitry, vacuum switch, and solenoid release valve.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and apparatus to perform effortlessvacuum evacuation on universal food sealable vacuum containers or winebottles for food preserving and meat marinating.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Storing and preserving food in vacuum environment has been proven toprolong the life of food significantly. Currently, there are many typesof appliances that can be found in the market to perform vacuumevacuation from sealable vacuum containers, which are typically made ofplastic or glass. Sealable vacuum containers are characterized as thoseare equipped with a valve that only allows air to go in one direction.Air is extracted from the container through this valve using vacuumpump. Sealable vacuum containers are also equipped with a release valvethat allows the air to fill back into the container at the end of thestorage period to recover the preserved food.

Almost all sealable vacuum containers (i.e U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,493)found on the market nowadays are proprietarily designed to only workwith their compatible vacuum appliances. This fact can add to the costof owning vacuum operation at home.

Another shortcoming of prior art systems is that it takes a great dealof efforts to operate vacuum evacuation on sealable vacuum containers.As for all existing vacuum appliances (i.e. FoodSaver® Vacuum Sealer),in order to extract air from a sealable vacuum container, the user hasto use a tubing extended from the vacuum appliance and insert it intothe sealable vacuum container extract valve. After the vacuum operationis done, the user has to store the tubing back into the vacuumappliance.

Current vacuum appliances on the market can only perform vacuumextraction from a sealable vacuum container, one at a time. The user hasto repeat the tubing inserting and air extracting process multiple timesif he/she has multiple sealable vacuum containers that need to bevacuumed. This can increase the time and effort to perform vacuumoperation significantly.

Vacuum operation can also be utilized to aid the meat marinating processas it can speed it up. Most vacuum appliances in the market now can beused for this purpose. However, each vacuum appliance also requires itsproprietary sealable vacuum container. Furthermore, tubing has to beused between the vacuum appliance and the sealable vacuum container.

Furthermore, a market research has found that none of the existingvacuum appliances can be used to extract air from universal wine bottlesto preserve wine. Since wine bottles are not proprietarily designed towork with current vacuum appliances, they cannot be used with them. Theonly device that can be used for this purpose is the vacuum hand pumpthat works with its proprietarily designed bottle vacuum stopper.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above shortcomings and others are addressed in one or more preferredembodiments and vacuum process of the invention described herein. In oneaspect of the invention, the system used for evacuating air from thesealable vacuum containers comprised of a vacuum chamber that is largeenough to enclose a sealable vacuum container or multiple of them. Thisvacuum chamber, in effect, is a large-size vacuum container that has avacuum port. The vacuum chamber is of circular shape to better withstandthe negative pressure. The vacuum chambers are formed by a dome as thetop part and the base unit as the bottom part. Between the top part andthe bottom part is an airtight element. The vacuum port is on the baseunit.

The other aspect of the invention is a system of tubing, vacuum pump,release valve, vacuum switch, microchip control board, and operationswitches. This system is connected to the vacuum chamber to control thevacuum condition inside the vacuum chamber and the food sealable vacuumcontainer.

Another aspect yet of the invention is the vacuum extracting and quickreleasing process that allows the operation to work with any foodsealable vacuum container found on the market.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the vacuuming process in action.

FIG. 2 shows the de-vacuuming process in action.

FIG. 3 is the perspective view of the food vacuum appliance with a foodsealable vacuum container in open position.

FIG. 4 is the perspective view of the food vacuum appliance with a foodsealable vacuum container in closed, operating, position.

FIG. 5 is the perspective view of the wine vacuum appliance with a winebottle in open position.

FIG. 6 is the perspective view of the wine vacuum appliance with a winebottle in closed, operating, position.

FIG. 7 is the operating flow chart of the vacuuming and de-vacuumingprocess.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to apparatuses and method to perform vacuumevacuation from universal food sealable vacuum containers or winebottles for food and wine preserving. The invention also relates to avacuum evacuation method for meat marinating. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show thevacuum evacuation operations on a vacuum chamber. There are two types ofvacuum chambers presented in this invention: food and wine vacuumchambers. Without losing the generality, only the food vacuum chamber ispresented in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, where the vacuum operations arepresented. FIG. 1 shows the vacuum evacuation process, and FIG. 2 showsthe de-vacuuming process. FIG. 3 shows the perspective view of the foodvacuum chamber, with a sealable vacuum container, in open position, FIG.4 shows the perspective view of the food vacuum chamber, with a sealablevacuum container, in close or operating position. FIG. 5 shows theperspective view of the wine vacuum chamber, with a wine bottle, in openposition, and FIG. 6 shows the perspective view of the wine vacuumchamber, with a wine bottle, in close or operating position. FIG. 7shows the flow chart of the operating processes. The key of theinvention that makes this vacuum appliance novel and different than theexisting ones is the quick de-vacuuming process. This allows the foodsealable vacuum container to remain vacuumed after the process. Thebasis of the vacuum and de-vacuum process is as followed.

FIG. 1 shows the vacuum evacuation process in action. In this figure,the food vacuum chamber 1 is used, as shown in its sectional view. Forillustration purpose (not part of this invention), a food sealablevacuum container 2 is also shown placed inside the vacuum chamber. Forthe purpose of simplicity and without losing generality, only the foodvacuum chamber is shown in this figure. The vacuum operation is the samefor all vacuum chambers, food or wine. These vacuum chambers are shownin FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. 6. Back to FIG. 1, the food vacuumchamber comprises of a dome 1 and the base unit. A vacuum port, 16, onthe base unit is connected to the vacuuming system, which comprises oftubing 15, vacuum pump 5, vacuum switch 4, release valve 3, controlcircuit 11, and operating switches 7-10. The vacuum pump, vacuum switch,and the release valve are connected to the control circuit by electricwirings 12-14, same as the operating switches 7-10. Vacuum pump 5 is acommercially-off-the shelve (COTS) one and is of reciprocating type,which has a piston that moves inside a cylinder. The vacuum pumpcylinder is equipped with a one-way valve that only allows the air to goone way. The vacuum pump piston is driven by an electric motor in such away that it moves in a reciprocating pattern and draw air from thecylinder, which in turn will extract air from the vacuum chamber. Vacuumswitch 4 is a COTS vacuum sensor that acts as an electrical switch,which is triggered by the sensed vacuum level. The vacuum switch used inthis application is a normally-open one, meaning its electric switch isin opened position when the sensed vacuum level is less than the presetthreshold. When the sensed vacuum level crosses a preset value, thevacuum switch will close its electrical switch. The release valve 3 is anormally-closed on-off solenoid valve, which can be controlledelectronically. The release valve used for this application is of ahigh-flowrate one to allow an almost instantaneous de-vacuuming process,and this is what makes this invention novel. Control circuit 11comprises of programmable microchip controller and circuitry for powersupply and for powering up the pump, valve, lights . . . .

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show the perspective view of the food vacuumappliance. A food sealable vacuum container is also shown placed insidethe vacuum appliance. This food sealable vacuum container can be of anybrand on the market. Typically, these food sealable vacuum containersare equipped with a vacuuming one-way valve 4 a and a release valve 4 b.The base unit 2 houses the pump, valve, and the control unit. Theairtight dome is secured on top of the base unit by its own weight.Rubbery material is used for the seal between the dome and the baseunit. The buttons 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, and 2 d are for vacuum, cancel,marinate 1, and marinate 2 enabling. The vacuum port 2 d is also shownin FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show the wine vacuum appliance. Wine vacuum appliancecomprises of top part 2, which is of one opened-end cylinder shape andsecured on top of base unit 1 by its own weight. A rubbery seal is inbetween the two units. The control panel is on the side of the baseunit. Button 1 a and 1 b are for vacuum and cancel enabling. Showninside the vacuum chamber is a wine bottle 4, which is sported with avacuum stopper 5. FIG. 6 also shows the internal view of the wine vacuumappliance; where pump, valve, and control unit 1 c are shown.

Starting with the vacuum operation, as shown in FIG. 7 for controllogics and FIG. 1 for actual system, the user first places a foodsealable vacuum container inside the vacuum chamber and close the vacuumchamber lid down. When the vacuum switch 7 is pressed by the user, whichresponses to the “vacuum switch on” on the operating flow chart in FIG.7, the vacuum pump 5 will be turned on to extract air from the vacuumchamber. Since the vacuum switch 4 is also connected in-line with theair tubing 15, it can sense the air pressure inside the tubing andtherefore the vacuum chamber itself. Since the food sealable vacuumcontainer is inside the vacuum chamber, air is also extracted from it.As mentioned earlier, the food sealable vacuum container is equippedwith a one-way valve. The pressure imbalance between the vacuum chamberand the food sealable vacuum container when the vacuum evacuation inaction will also cause the air to escape the food sealable vacuumcontainer through its valve.

When the vacuum level in the tubing hit the preset vacuum threshold seton the vacuum switch, it sends signal to the microchip controller toturn off the vacuum pump and open up the release valve to let the airinto the vacuum chamber to de-vacuum it instantaneously, as shown inFIG. 2. The air flow is in the direction of the shown arrows along thetubing. The food sealable vacuum container, because of its one-wayvalve, preventing the air from getting back into it, and thereforeremains vacuumed after this process, even after the pressure inside thevacuum chamber has become that of the ambient. As mentioned earlier, therelease valve used is a high-flowrate one that allows instantaneousde-vacuuming, and this is key of this invention. If a low-flowrate valvewere used and the de-vacuuming process were not quick enough, the airwould leak back into the food sealable vacuum container. The one-wayvalve on the food sealable vacuum container only works if thedifferential pressure, inside vs. outside of the container, is largeenough. A slow de-vacuuming process would cause a low differentialpressure, and the air will find it way back into the food sealablevacuum container. Following the de-vacuuming process, a 3-second delayis allowed before the microchip controller will send a signal to closethe release valve and to set the system back to the standby mode,getting ready for the next command. The user now can open the vacuumchamber to retrieve the food sealable vacuum container to store itsomewhere else. When needed, the user can press the release valve on thefood sealable vacuum container to de-vacuum it and retrieve the foodinside.

For the wine vacuum appliance, the vacuum operation on the wine bottlefollows the exact procedure as in the vacuuming the food sealable vacuumcontainer. However, instead of extracting the air from the sealablevacuum container, the air now is extracted from the wine bottlesthemselves. The wine bottle vacuuming process is made possible with theuse of wine bottle vacuum stopper, which are readily available on themarket. These stoppers act as a one-way valve and release valvecombined. The user just plugs a vacuum stopper into the wine bottle andplace it in the wine vacuum appliance and turn the vacuum switch on tostart the vacuuming process. When the vacuum pressure has reached thepreset value, the wine vacuum appliance will go into the de-vacuumingcycle, while the wine bottle still remains vacuumed. The user now canretrieve the vacuumed wine bottle from the wine vacuum appliance. Whenneeded, the user can press the vacuum stopper to de-vacuum the bottle.

For the food vacuuming appliance, the next available operation is meatmarinating Mode 1. FIG. 7 shows the operation procedure of this mode,starting with “marinating 1 switch on” block. To marinate meat, unlikewith prior art systems, the user can use any open container for meat andmarinating recipes, as opposed to a proprietary one of closed type.Trays, bowls . . . can be used for this purpose. Prior art systemsrequire that meat and marinating recipes be placed in a speciallydesigned, sealable container. Back to FIG. 1, the user first place meatand marinating recipes container inside the vacuum chamber and press malbutton 9 to start this marinating mode. The vacuum pump 5 will turn onto start pumping air out of the vacuum chamber. When the vacuum levelsensed by vacuum switch 3 reaches the preset threshold, the vacuumswitch 3 will send a signal to the microchip controller to stop thevacuum pump 5. A 6-minute delay will follow to allow the marinatingrecipes to soak into the meat. Following this 6-minute delay, themicrochip controller will open the release valve 3 to de-vacuum thesealable vacuum container. After a 3-second delay, the release valve 3is closed again by the microchip controller, getting ready for the nextvacuuming cycle, which will start immediately by turning on the vacuumpump. The next vacuuming cycle will end at the end of the 3-second delaymentioned above. In summary, Marinating Mode 1 consists of fivevacuuming cycles as described above and totals about 30 minutes.

Marinating Mode 2 logics are shown on FIG. 7, starting with “marinating2 switch on” block. The user will press the mat button 9 on FIG. 1 tostart this mode. Marinating Mode 2 is similar to marinating Mode 1,except the delay period is 30 minutes instead of 5 minutes. Also, thereis no repeat of the vacuuming cycle as in Mode 1.

At any time into an operation, when cancel button 8 is pressed, thevacuum pump 5 will stop and release valve 3 will open to bring thepressure inside the vacuum chamber to that of the ambient.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described,modifications may be made without departing from the invention. Thescope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, and alldevices that come within the meaning of the claims, either literally orby equivalence, are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An appliance for vacuum evacuating operation onuniversal food sealable vacuum container, said appliance comprising: avacuum chamber, said vacuum chamber is either in rectangular shape orcircular shape, said circular vacuum chamber is made out of glass; avacuum chamber enclosure, said vacuum chamber enclosure is either anairtight door that is hingeably mounted at the front of the saidrectangular vacuum chamber or an airtight lid that is removable from thetop of the said circular vacuum chamber; a vacuum source and controlunit, said vacuum source and control unit is mounted at the back of saidrectangular vacuum chamber on the top of said circular vacuum chamber; acontrol panel, said control panel comprising operation buttons andindicating lights, said control panel is mounted at the front of thesaid rectangular vacuum chamber or on the top of said circular vacuumchamber.
 2. An appliance for vacuum evacuating wine bottle, saidappliance comprising: a vacuum chamber, said vacuum chamber is ofcylinder shape with one end opened and one end closed and made out ofplexiglass; a base unit, said base unit is airtight against the saidvacuum chamber sitting above it and comprising vacuum source, controlunit, and control panel.
 3. A method for vacuum evacuating universalfood sealable vacuum container, said method comprising the steps of:turning the said vacuum source on; monitoring vacuum level in the saidvacuum chamber; turning the said vacuum source off when vacuum levelmeets threshold; quickly de-vacuuming said vacuum chamber to retain thefood sealable vacuum container in vacuum state.
 4. A method for vacuumevacuating wine bottle, said method comprising the steps of: turning thesaid vacuum source on; monitoring vacuum level in the said vacuumchamber; turning the said vacuum source off when vacuum level meetsthreshold; quickly de-vacuuming said vacuum chamber to retain the winebottle in vacuum state.
 5. A method for vacuum evacuating that aid themeat marinating process, said method comprising the steps of: turningthe said vacuum source on; monitoring vacuum level in the said vacuumchamber; turning the said vacuum source off when vacuum level meetsthreshold; keeping the meat under vacuum state for a period of time;De-vacuuming said vacuum chamber; Repeat that vacuuming and de-vacuumingcycle few times for marinating Mode 1 and no repeat for marinating Mode2.